Fence-making machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model) L. HUIS-KAMP.

FENCE MAKING MACHINE.

Patented June 16, 1885..

INVENTOR 26m BY 1 ATTORNEYS WITNESSES N. PETERS. Phom-Uthogruphur. Wahingwn. D. (L

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. HUISKAMP.

FENCE MAKING MACHINE.

No. 320,358. Patented June 16 1885.

wv W BY u Vi! ATTORNEYS.

N4 PETERS, Pholo-Lrlhugraphen Washington, 2. c.

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LUKE HUISKAMP, OF KEOKUK, IOWA.

FENCE-MAKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,358, dated June 16, 1885.

Application filed J one 10, 1884.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LUKE HUIsKAMP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Keokuk, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Making Machines, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to that class of machines used to assist the operator in making, by hand, fences of wire and slats; and it has for its object to provide means whereby the various steps in the operation of wire and slat fence making may be simplified and made easy.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combin ation of parts forming a fence-making machine hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine complete. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section at a: a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation showing the picket-spacing device. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the tension device in plan and side elevation. Fig. 6 is an enlarged View of areel-hcad in side and end elevation. Fig. 7 is a view of a twisting-head in plan and elevation. Fig. 8 is a rear-end elevation of a twister. Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical section at y y of Fig. 7.

A represents the body or frame of the machine, upon which all the working parts are mounted.

13 13 represent two rods, on which reels 0 may be mounted to support the coils of wire D. The reels O are made of suitable form and size to receive the wire in the coil as wound at the factory for market, thus saving rewindin g. From these reels the wire passes through a tension device, E, to the twister F. The back serves as bearings for the rollers 61, over and under which the wire passes. The ends I) are each provided with two holes for the upper and lower wires, respectively, to pass through. 0 represents a series of holes, into any of which the studs 0 may be screwed, in order that the rollers 61 may be set far apart or near together to vary the tension. If the fence is required to be tight and the wire is (No model.)

unusuallysoft, more tension is required. The closer together the rollers d are set the more will the wire be crooked out of its line of travel, and the more tension will be exerted by this resistance to its being pulled along; therefore the use of my adjustable tension device is evident. The twister F is a solid body of iron having a mouth, f, at its forward end, through which the slats of the fence are to be inserted. There are a series of these twisters, as many as there are pairs of wires to the fence, and each twister is grooved, at 9, along its opposite sides, to receive the wires within its circumferential bearings G. Each wire enters the rear end of a groove, g, within the rag-wheel H, and leaves the groove at its forward end through a hole, 9, in the jaw of the twister in a direction to join readily with its mate coming through the opposite groove and jaw-hole. The grooves along the sides of the twister enable the operator to start the wire ends through more readily than could be done if holes completely through the twister were substituted for the grooves 9, because the ends of the wire are frequently crooked and liable to catch in an inclosed passage. The wires, being drawn through the twisters and secured to the reel I, are then twisted by turning the crank-wheel J, which revolves the twisters by means of the chain K engaging the rag-wheels H. The amount of twist is regulated by stops it on the chain-in practice a mere spike or bolt is inserted through a link to cross the chain and project at either side-which, striking some fixed object, such as a portion, A,of frame A,prev'ent the further revolution of the chain. These steps may be set to permit the chain to give the number of twists desired to the wire.

M is a rockshaft journ aled across the frame, and provided with arms m, N, and L to actuate the fence feeding and stopping devices.

L is the hand-lever.

on is the feeding-arm provided with a roller, m, which engages a loop, I, on the lever I, which lever is pivoted at its lower end to the frame to swing at its upper end, engaging a rod, j, adapted to slide on one of the inner rails of the frame. The rod j is provided with fingers i, to take behind each newly-inserted picket and move it forward the amount required 'for spaces between pickets.- The arm N is provided with a roller, N, which rises beneath the arm n and lifts the split fingers n up astride the wires behind the picket after it is fed forward to hold the wireswhile being twisted. A picket being inserted across the frame at h, between all the twister-jaws, the hand-lever L is moved to the position shown in dotted lines, carrying the picket back firmly between the twisted wiresby means ofthe fingers i on the slide-rods j, operated by the levers l and 'm, The same move of lever L also engages the lever N, attached to rock-shaft M, with the arm n to lift it,

bringing the series of split fingers n up astride "the two wires in the rear of the picket. Now the crank-wheel J is revolved the only way it can be on account of the chain-stops, and that is opposite to the way it was revolved last. The split fingers a keep the two wires vertical, one over the other, at a point close to the picket, thus insuring the wires being in a straight line across the pickets in the completed fence, and the wires are twisted behind the fingers. Now the lever L is restored to the first position, returning the fingers 'i by means of the loop-bar l on lever l, and permitting the fingers n and bar a to fall of their own weight out of the path of the pickets.

Now the operator winds up the. fence to the extent of one picket in length by means of the hand-lever 0,,wh ich has a cross-head, o, armed with pawls P, engaging ratchet-teeth p on the heads of the reel Q is a bell, set to give warning when the fence has been wound up enough, it being struck by a spring, q, when a picket passes over the latter. The spring has a curve extending up in the path of the pickets, and when the fence is wound along a picket presses the spring down and lets'it spring up against the bell.

The peculiarity of the reel consists in the heads 1, having two recesses, R, to receive two slats, V, which serve as a core on which to wind the fence. These slats are kept in the recesses R by crosspins S. When the roll of fence is as large as desired, the pins S are withdrawn, the mouths of the recesses R are turned downward, and the roll drops to the floor. The core-slats may now be drawn endwise out of the roll and returned to the place in the reel-heads. The two heads are set to exactl y coincide, and then the two sets of pawls P on arms of the same rock-shaft, s, will revolve both heads alike. The two sets of pawls P, actuated simultaneously by crossthe simultaneously-acting pawls towind the fence squarely. Should the'pickets not be exactly parallel, one edge of the fence may gain on the other. In this case it becomes necessary to set one end of the reel a notch or two ahead, which may be done at any time required by my independent reel-heads.

T is an intermediate roller to hold the chain down upon the rag-wheels H. The chain is run over and under the rag-wheels alternately, in order that it may engage them the more positively; but the same may be accomplished andrun the chain over all the wheels by introducing other intermediate wheels, '1, be-

tween the rag-wheels. My grooved twistingheads are in many respects better than heads through the bodies of which the wire runs. The wire is very quickly inserted in these heads, and cannot become entangled or clogged by kinks. The rollers m and N are adjustable along their respective supporting-levers to regulate the amount of movement which.

they give to the parts they act on. The chain, passing alternately over and under adjacent twisters, twists adjacent pairs of wires on the fence in opposite directions, so that their natural resistance to twist acts against each other, tending to hold the pickets tightly and to hold them in a plane, whereas if the wires all twist the same way there is a tendency of the fence to twist or get in wind.

What -I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the twister F, provided with the mouth f, the grooves 9 along the sides of the twister, and the holes 9, connecting the mouth with the grooves, and the bearings G, encircling the twister around the grooves, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the reel-heads I. having the recesses R, opening both at the end and at one side of theheads, and the cross-pin S, substantially as shown and described, whereby the fabric and the slats 1, upon which it is wound, may be permitted to drop from the reel-heads, as set forth.

' 3. The combination of the frame A, provided with a stop, A, the crank-wheel J, and the twisters F, journaled thereon, the ragwheels H on the twisters, the chain K around the crank-wheel and rag-wheels, and the stoppin k, removably placed in a link of the chain, the stop A being in the path of the pin k, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination of the frame A, the two independent reel-heads 1 journaled therein, the ratchet-wheels 19, secured to the journals of the said heads, the rock-shaft s, the two cross-heads b, secured thereon, the two pairs of pawls P, attached to the said heads and adapted to engage the said ratchet-wheels, and a hand'lever, O, substantially as shown and described.

' 5. The combination,with the sliding bars j and the fingers ithereon, of the hand-lever L, and the connections consisting of the rockshaft M, lever I, provided with the loop Z, and the lever m, provided with the adjustable rollor m, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the leverL, rock- 5 shaft M, the arm N, and the adjustable roller N, of the arm n and the split fingers n thereon, substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination, with the bell Q, fixed to the frame A, of the spring q, also fixed to the frame, having an upward curve in the path of 10 the slats, and adapted to strike the bell on the passage of a slat, as shown and described.

LUKE HUISKAMP. Witnesses:

W. P. DAVIS, ROBERT MAXWELL. 

